* Last year, Anni Fife closed the door on a twenty-year successful career in television production, to fulfill her lifelong passion, writing. In the space of one month, she closed her business, packed up her city life and moved to a small seaside village. ‘My writing has always been constrained by client briefs,’ Anni says. ‘Now, I finally have the opportunity to write to the beat of my own heart.’ LUKE’s Redemption is Anni’s debut novel and she hopes you enjoy it as much as she loved writing it. Anni loves to spend hours walking on the beach searching for pansy shells, more hours drinking red wine with her gal posse, and the most hours writing romance novels filled with women you can relate to and men you love to dream about. She is currently working on her second novel, GRAY’s Promise. * Anni is published by The Wild Rose Press.

Today Anni Fife has answered the question: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received and how did it help you?* There is a lot of advice that is freely offered by best-selling authors and various other entities. But one particular piece of advice is repeated extensively by near everybody—as soon as you finish writing your book, start writing the next book!* I’m a total believer in this philosophy. I’m lucky enough to have an excellent publisher—The Wild Rose Press—but even so, as a new author I have to do all of the marketing and publicity on my own. This takes up a chunk of time. You have to be careful to prioritize your writing as the social media & publicity demands can take over. But I’ve learned quickly that NOTHING grows your readership as much as releasing another book. If a reader reads your book and likes it, what is the first thing they are going to do? Right! Look up what other books you have written. So you need to get writing. * I tried hard to follow this advice last year but as I am a debut author, I spent a lot of time building momentum for my brand, and when I finally released Luke’s Redemption, I appeared on over sixty blogs during the release period. It was as exhilarating as it was exhausting, because all my time was spent writing content for guest posts and then pushing social media to maximize reach for the blogs I appeared on. And then we had a family emergency. So finishing my book ended up at the end of the queue. Not good! Because any fans I’ve managed to secure are waiting for my next book…so I need to get on and deliver. * But I am delighted to report that I’m now in the final chapters of Gray’s Promise, book two in my King Security Series. (Luke’s Redemption is Book One.) It’s set in New York and Denton, Texas. Grayson Walker is Luke’s best friend, and he’s a wicked charmer. Zoey Morgan is his one-and-only. Torn apart by horrific tragedy, Gray and Zoey still carry the emotional scars fourteen years later. We follow their fraught reconciliation, and the unknown evil stalking them. Their journey is filled with pain, and a heart-wrenching beauty. And, of course, sexual chemistry so scorching it still gets me in a hot sweat when I think about it. I hope to release Gray’s Promise in July 2017. * Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions in the comments section. I’m around most of the day and am happy to answer whatever you toss my way. ~ Anni xx

A look into…

~ Blurb ~

* Chased by her criminal kingpin father, Katya Dalca runs to New Orleans and straight into the arms of Luke Hunter. Sucked into the carnal world of the French Quarter, she succumbs to Luke’s potent sexuality. He not only steals her breath, he steals her heart and the only leverage she has against her father. She is left with no choice except to pick up the pieces and rebuild her life alone. * Undercover DEA agent Luke Hunter thought his newest assignment—recover a stolen flash drive to gain the trust of the Russian mob—was like any other. But his target brings him to his knees, and after one taste of her intoxicating beauty, he’s in too deep. Doing his job means walking away, leaving his heart behind with nothing but a promise to reunite. It’s a promise he can’t keep. * When Katya’s past reaches out and her world unravels, her only hope is the one man she is most vulnerable to—Luke.

~ Excerpt ~

* We pulled into the underground parking at King Security and Luke parked the SUV in line with several other huge black Ford Expeditions. It appeared King Security had its own fleet. * Unable to stop myself, I blurted, “You were with Anna when you were undercover with my father, weren’t you?” * Luke pulled the keys from the ignition. In the deafening silence I didn’t think he was going to answer. Then he turned to me and bit out. “Yes!” * Wow! I didn’t expect him to be so honest. I sat back and folded my arms, tight. Damn, his answer hurt me. “So you make a habit of lying to your women? Being with them while you’re pretending to be someone you’re not? Is that your thing?” * “She wasn’t my woman,” Luke growled. “She was just a woman. She was there, I was there. It was never deep and it sure as hell wasn’t forever. Then it was over, and I made certain she was clear of the investigation. That was it.” He leaned towards me and said impatiently, “That tell you what you want to know?” * “Not even close. You made love to her didn’t you?” * “Hell no!” Luke snarled. “I fucked her. Like I have all the other women in my life. There’s only one woman I ever made love to Katya. And that was you.” * I went rigid, stunned into silence. Luke turned to open his car door. “You didn’t make love to me, Michael did,” I whispered.

Thank you for joining us here today, Anni Fife! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Anni Fife will be awarding $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use this RAFFLECOPTER LINK to enter the drawing. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!

Hello there. I’m delighted to be a guest on Casey M’s Corner today, to share a few of my thoughts with you. Thank you to Casey, and HUGE thanks to all of you who have taken time to stop by. If you have any questions, toss them my way…otherwise, happy reading.
Best,
Anni xx

I enjoyed reading more about you and your work. Doing social media does take time away from writing. I know that from my own experience. Yet in today’s publishing world it is necessary.

I would say the best piece of writing advice came from my husband who is not a writer. He said take a chance, roll the dice, and give yourself permission to write full-time. And so I gave up my career, taking an early retirement, and now write full-time. I have no regrets.

I’m so happy for you, Jacque. I also took that chance. It’s obviously not paying off yet, but I have faith that by the time i get to book 3, my decision to throw caution to the winds will start to deliver. HUGE thanks for visiting and sharing with us. Anni xx

Writing takes courage. Big congratulations to you for taking that leap of faith, getting your first book published and moving on to the next. That is good advice you relay. You become a better writer, too, with each book, because as I’m sure you know, there is so much to learn and absorb it must be done over time. The best advice I’ve received is to read voraciously in and outside your genre. The more I learn, the more I can distinguish the skilled writers and pick up tips for myself that improve my own writing. Good luck with your next book!

That’s great advice, Amanda. But sometimes I find reading other fiction in the middle of writing an intense chapter distracts me…so I opt for rubbishy TV Drama instead. LOL! Thank you so much for your kind words and for stopping by. xx

The best advice I received was to enter contests. People don’t know you. They are willing to be blunt. Don’t take every word to heart and don’t believe everything you’re told, but DO look for common suggestions or complaints. Study up and perfect your weak spots and submit again. Loved your post, Anni. Best wishes.

Great advice Amity, thanks so much for taking the time to share. My only issue with contests is the high entry costs, and the fact they insist on multiple print copies which increase the entry costs even more. xx

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Hello and welcome to my blog! Because I love to read books from a wide variety of genres, I enjoy showcasing an eclectic assortment of authors and their stories – ranging from romance and erotica to horror, sci-fi & fantasy and everything in between and all combinations. You’ll even have posts from Casey Moss/C.R. Moss on occasion showcasing my own books, crafts, and paintings and where to find them!
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